"I really wasn't lying! I heard Mentor Khors calling me! I really can't let him down!"
Ben, Grace, and Anton were all taken aback.
Koleda's face instantly darkened. "What's going on? Why... why did that guy's name come up?"
Koleda's memories:
She could barely remember how long it had been since she last heard that guy's name.
Khors Belobog.
The previous president of Belobog Heavy Industries and... Koleda's father.
"Koleda! Come take a look."
"This is the intelligent construction machine I told you about before, the one we developed ourselves!"
Before Koleda stood an incomplete machine. It had no limbs, only an enormous body, but it was an awe-inspiring sight.
A young Koleda asked curiously, "Is this the prototype you told me about? When will you finish building it?"
"It'll take a whole lot of money to build them."
Khors Belobog stroked the machine as he spoke with a smile.
"My salary hasn't given me enough money yet, and we don't have a production line that can handle it either. But don't worry. One day, I'll make sure my precious daughter gets to ride in it!"
"You know, it's no ordinary machine. It has a heart I made for it inside."
"Not only can it work in dangerous Hollows, it can understand what you say, too."
"Wow." Little Koleda thought the machine was amazing.
"Koleda, come on, let's give him a name."
But as time went on, Koleda found that her father was growing busier and busier with work, and spending less and less time with her.
Back then, what Koleda heard most often were his attempts to put her off.
"Just wait a little longer..."
"I'll be done soon..."
"Daddy promises..."
Then one day, Koleda got up in the middle of the night and found her father shouting in the living room.
"You want me to pretend nothing happened? Don't be ridiculous! What exactly is in there?"
Koleda watched her father pack up a large bag of money and hurried after him. "Dad, it's so late. Where are you going?"
She suddenly had a feeling that if she couldn't stop her dad, she would never get another chance to see him...
"I don't want to stay home alone!"
"I'm coming with you!"
Koleda instinctively grabbed the large bag.
"Daddy has something urgent to take care of and has to go out. Be good and stay home."
Khors Belobog closed the door. As he left, his expression was so grim, and his eyes so dull.
"Daddy will be back soon. Daddy promises."
Koleda tugged hard on the bag, sending banknotes flying everywhere before they fell to the floor in front of her...
"BOOM!"
[Waaah... there's actually a knife!]
[MiHoYo! I knew it! Koleda's story actually has a knife in it!]
Xia Linxi suddenly felt her heart clench as a familiar feeling surged up inside her.
She had grown up with her grandmother. When she was five, her father had left on his own.
Her mother had died from complications giving birth to her, and as far back as Xia Linxi could remember, her father had never treated her kindly.
He had spent three whole years in a miserable slump, beating and cursing her from an early age. It wasn't until she was five that he finally freed himself, leaving her with her grandmother.
From that day on, Xia Linxi had a wish in her heart:
I have to make something of myself.
I have to make lots and lots of money and live the life I want with Grandma.
Xia Linxi looked at her computer and suddenly felt that she and Koleda were a little alike...
[Streamer? Streamer, why are you crying? Hugs...]
[Maybe the story moved her to tears? Earlier, the story said the previous president ran off with the money. That must be foreshadowing. Koleda's father probably wasn't that kind of person, right?]
"President?"
Ben's voice instantly brought Koleda out of her thoughts.
"Ah... Ben, were you calling me?"
"Yes. We've completed all our commissions, and the Proxy's helper is here to collect the Bangboo."
"Hello, little president!" Lu Yingheng walked over with a smile, still wearing a black mask.
Belle had asked him to wear it in case someone recognized him on the way.
"Although there was a small accident, we've now recovered all three intelligent machines that went missing."
"With that, all the commissions are complete. Thanks to Phaethon, we were able to get through this crisis."
Koleda smiled as she spoke, showing no sign of sorrow.
"Please pass this on to Phaethon: thank you again for your help."
Lu Yingheng gave her a faint smile. "Little president, there's one more thing I want to say. Do you want to hear it?"
Koleda looked a little puzzled. "Is there something you want to say?"
Lu Yingheng leaned toward Koleda, staring at the eye she always left uncovered:
"As for the Khors you mentioned just now..."
"Ah... ah! It's already so late! President, if we don't arrange the commission payment now, we might not be able to transfer the money by tomorrow."
Ben hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Ben, there's no need for that. Anyone can find the answer to this gentleman's question with a quick search online."
Koleda glanced at the mysterious Lu Yingheng before her. She still hadn't forgotten his ability to turn invisible:
"You and Phaethon watched the show Anton appeared on as a guest, right?"
"Didn't the host mention the scandal about a president of Belobog Heavy Industries running off with the funds?"
"The person who did that was the previous president, Khors Belobog-my biological father."
"On the eve of the Old Capital's fall, a large sum of money suddenly disappeared from our accounts, and that guy vanished at the same time."
Lu Yingheng looked at Koleda, whose expression was slightly downcast. He smiled faintly and couldn't help patting her head:
"Koleda, do you really think what you saw was the truth?"
Koleda was uncomfortable with the gesture at first, but when she heard those words, she froze on the spot.
"As someone who witnessed the fall of the Old Capital firsthand, I might know a lot.
"Although I lost many of my memories and only just recovered a little, many things aren't as simple as they seem. Sometimes, the sinner is often the hero."
Ben stood frozen beside them. "Huh? What exactly do you know???"
Lu Yingheng smiled faintly. "If you get the chance, you'll find out for yourself, little president."
With that, Lu Yingheng vanished from the spot.
[Whoa! There really was more to it!]
[Has Lord Dragon Emperor recovered a little of his memory? He probably knows a lot of secrets, right?]
[The sinner is often the hero... So did Koleda's father actually have no choice?]
Xia Linxi sighed, looking at the screen as the scene returned to the video store:
"All right, all right, we'll watch the rest of the story together tomorrow. Hubby's finally appeared, and I've been waiting so long!"